Althea Gibson (August 25, 1927 – September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and the first black athlete of either gender to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956 she became the first person of color to win a Grand Slam title (the French Open). The following year she won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals (precursor of the U.S. Open), then won both again in 1958, and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments, including six doubles titles, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. "She is one of the greatest players who ever lived," said Robert Ryland, a tennis contemporary and former coach of Venus and Serena Williams. "Martina couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters." In the early 1960s she also became the first black player to compete on the women's professional golf tour.
At a time when racism and prejudice were widespread in sports and in society, Gibson was often compared to Jackie Robinson. "Her road to success was a challenging one," said Billie Jean King, "but I never saw her back down." "To anyone, she was an inspiration, because of what she was able to do at a time when it was enormously difficult to play tennis at all if you were black," said former New York City MayorDavid Dinkins. "I am honored to have followed in such great footsteps," wrote Venus Williams. "Her accomplishments set the stage for my success, and through players like myself and Serena and many others to come, her legacy will live on."

This is an excerpt from the article Althea Gibson Foundation from the Wikipedia free encyclopedia. A list of authors is available at Wikipedia.

The article Althea Gibson Foundation at en.wikipedia.org was accessed 52 times in the last 30 days. (as of: 07/23/2013)

707 Honoring the 50th anniversary of Althea Gibson's championship at ... Althea Gibson received a full athletic scholarship to attend Florida A&M University for ... the Althea Gibson Foundation was established to support underprivileged youth ...

I only wanted to prove it to my opponents." -Althea Gibson Born to Win is the first and only fully authorized biography of the late great Althea Gibson, the first African American to break the color line in tournament tennis.

Together with longtime friend Fran Gray, Althea formed the Althea Gibson Foundation in 1998, which helped urban youths learn to play tennis and golf. In
1988 Althea presented her Wimbledon trophies to the Smithsonian Institution in ...

In 1988 she donated her trophies to the Smithsonian Institute for posterity's sake.
Gibson cofounded the Althea Gibson Foundation, with its purpose defined as
follows: “The Althea Gibson Foundation was founded for the primary purpose of ...

10sballs.com serves the latest tennis updates, news, and top stories from a talented team of writers and tennis-lovers. We offer innovative stories, draws and results, order of play, live scores, breaking videos, special blogs from our unique contributors, and even chances to win excellent prizes. As we hit you with the best quality coverage, and find out why/how we play the sport.

You're Invited to the End of Summer Camp Picnic at the Althea Gibson Tennis and Education Center 1000-38 W. Girard Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19123 July 25, 2008 Begins at 5:30 ~~~ This event will display the "Art Quilt" designed by 2007 Art & Change grantee Toni Kersey. Kersey worked with children ages 8-17 during an…